home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Cream of the Crop 22
/
Cream of the Crop 22.iso
/
games
/
solit1_0.zip
/
MP_SOLIT.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-11-09
|
15KB
|
321 lines
November 9, 1996
Midnight Programmers' Solitaire '97 v1.0
----------------------------------------
Disclaimer (Weazle words for the lawyers)
-----------------------------------------
I bear no responsibilities for any unintentional mischief caused by this
humble program on your system. If on some very remote chance that use of
MP_SOLIT.EXE scrambles your computer, you are on your own with my humblest
apologies. I have taken all possible precautions to ensure that this
program performs as designed but sometimes stuff happens. (Read the official
disclaimer at the bottom of this file.)
This version has been tested with:
80386DX33, 80486SX33, 80486DX2/66, 80486DX2/50 and Pentium 133 systems
under PCBoard 15.30, DESQview 2.62, BNU 1.70, Teleguard 3.02,
Windows 3.x, Windows 95, LANtastic 6.0 and Novell 3.12
(It hasn't been tested on a Pentium Pro yet, care to donate one? <GRIN>)
Now that the nasty part is over with, here is the important stuff...
Acknowledgments
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open Doors & Regkey Brian Pirie
117 Cedarock Drive,
Kanata, ON
CANADA, K2M 2H5
Borland C++ Borland International, Inc.
100 Borland Way,
P.O. Box 660001,
Scotts Valley, CA.
USA, 95067-0001
PCBoard BBS Clark Development Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 571365,
Murry, UT,
USA, 84157-1365
Thanks & Appreciation
---------------------
A tip'o the hat to Greg Contesti, sysop of Oasys as well as the members of
The GameBoard BBS, Sysops of FIDO Net 244 and Craig Sturgeon for testing
this software prior to full release.
Distribution Files
------------------
MP_SOLIT.EXE - Main program (compiled for 80386 or better processor).
MP_SOLIT.XT - Alternate version of main program (compiled for 8086).
Rename MP_SOLIT.XT to MP_SOLIT.EXE.
Note: If you are running on a 386 or better, you can
delete this file. I only include it for old
hardware compatibility.
MP_SOLIT.CFG - Standard configuration file.
MP_SOLIT.BAT - Sample launch file for most systems.
MP_SOLIT. - PCBoard specific launch file that I use.
HISTORY.DOC - Revision/release/bug fix history file.
REGISTER.DOC - Registration form (Pretty please?)
FILE_ID.DIZ - Short BBS description file.
MP_SOLIT.DOC - This readme file.
Revisions
---------
Please see HISTORY.DOC for complete revision/release/bug fix history.
Known Problems and Other Weirdness
----------------------------------
Some modem's and/or software, cannot handle the club character (ASCII 5) and
will not print it to the screen. This is why the game asks if you can see
the club character when loading. If you select "N" then you get characters
symbolizing the suits instead of the suit face. This also kicks in some
more keyboard draining routines while printing. It seemed to be marginally
related to the following known bug.
There is a known bug with some modems (O.K., Craig Sturgeons's lap top modem)
that seems to return garbage while updating the screen. I have taken all
precautions I can to minimize this effect, but I never was able to completely
eliminate it. I'm beginning to suspect that it's a "feature" of Craig's
machine & modem and that it doesn't like even slightly noisy phone lines.
Functional Limitations
----------------------
The Solitaire '97 has not been crippled in any way, shape or form. It does
however include a delay when starting the program, begining a new game and
exiting the program that will be removed by registering this program. I
guess you could call this nag-ware.
Also, unlike some other games, this one is fully multi-node aware,
multi-tasker friendly (DESQview & Win95) and TESTED!
Why?
----
Darn good question. First off, this is not my first door, nor is it my
first door in C, but it is my first with Brian Pirie's excellent BBS door
library OpenDoors. I have a couple of other large projects on the go that
will be using OpenDoors and I wanted a smaller program to get a feel for the
library, and get all the appropriate BBS door support functions built.
As my BBS (see below for all the info) didn't have a solitaire game I figured
that this would be just the project to do all the testing. I had intended to
write my own registration key functions, but I was so happy with OpenDoors
that I also purchased a RegKey license as well.
Installation
------------
1) Copy all the files in the ZIP file into a separate subdirectory.
2) Edit MP_SOLIT or MP_SOLIT.BAT to point to the correct directories and
drop files.
3) Add a call to the launching file (MP_SOLIT or MP_SOLIT.BAT) in your DOOR
description file.
4) If you are running on a network don't forget to set the MP_SOLIT.EXE file
to READ ONLY. For DOS, OS/2 and Win95:
ATTRIB *.EXE +R
For Novell:
FLAG *.EXE SRO
5) That should be it... Start playing!
OpenDoors allows you to use almost any BBS door drop file type and COM port
IRQ combinations.
If you have any problems or specific changes for your BBS system, please
forward them to me. I will include these recommendations in future release
documentation.
Files Created
-------------
The first time the game is run the high score file (MP_SOLIT.DAT) will be
created in the installation directory. This is a data file and not an
a ASCII readable file, so it isn't displayable. I might be persuaded to
add this as a feature for a future release if I get enough requests.
If you have any weird things happen, the game might write out a log file to
the installation directory with information on what might have happened. This
log file will be in the form "SOL_####.LOG" with the number signs being
replaced with the node number that generated the error.
Please note, that the error messaging in this program is not extensive, so
the information may not make sense or the error might not trigger a log
entry at all.
Playing Solitaire '97
---------------------
The object of this game is to move all the cards from the main board to the
suits piles.
Scoring: The player is awarded a point for each card moved to the suits
columns. If all cards are moved, the player is awarded a bonus based upon
the amount of time used (i.e. the faster you complete the game, more points
you get).
Movement: Card movement is accomplished by selecting the column you wish to
move a card from, to the column you want to move it to. Each column has a
number above it or letter ("S" for Suits or "N" or Next for the next three
cards from the heap pile) to identify it.
You can also move the cursor by using the "<" (left) and ">" (right)
characters to move to the next column and the enter key to select.
The game will allow single cards, complete or partial columns to be moved.
You may only move a single card from the heap (Column 0) or to the Suits
columns.
Cards cannot be moved from the Suits columns once they are there nor can
cards be moved to heap piles from the main tableau.
There is no limitation on how many times you can flip the heap pile.
Help: There is limited on-line help available by hitting the H key.
Refreshing the Screen: Should bad phone lines scramble the screen, the R
command (Refresh) will redraw the entire screen.
Quitting: Hitting "Q" (for Quit) will allow the user to end a current game,
as well as exiting back to the BBS. If the score is good enough to make
it on the high score you will be shown the new standings before exiting.
Resetting Scores
----------------
Just delete the MP_SOLIT.DAT file from the installation directory. A new,
blank data file will be created the next time that someone plays the game.
Registration
------------
This program is _NOT_ Freeware nor is it Public Domain software. You are
allowed a 30 day evaluation period, after which you are required to register
this software.
Registration for this program is $10.00 (Canadian or US funds). If you find
this program entertaining please make the effort to register it, so I can be
persuaded to write more stuff! After all, isn't that what Shareware is all
about.
Please fill out REGISTER.DOC and mail it in.
Once you receive your registration key, edit the "MP_SOLIT.CFG" file
replacing the information for the following entries with the appropriate
string in your registration file:
RegistrationName Unregistered
RegistrationCode 00000
Please note that the RegistrationCode entry is not case sensitive but both
the RegistrationName and the RegistrationCode must be entered EXACTLY as was
the information you submitted for registration.
Where to Contact Midnight Programmers
-------------------------------------
Address: Midnight Programmers
1589 Waterdown Road,
Burlington, Ontario,
Canada, L7R 3X5
BBS: The GameBoard BBS
(905) 689-3982 (300-28800 v.34)
(905) 689-9409 (300-28800 v.34)
FidoNet: Mark Collis@1:244/506
InterNet: Mark.Collis@gboard.gryn.org
mcollis@worldchat.com
mark_collis@dofasco.ca
Other Midnight Programmer files - FREQ names
--------------------------------------------
SOLITAIRE - Standard solitaire card game - BBS door. (Shareware)
QOTD - Over 5600 random quotes, DOS EXE, PPE, and BBS DOOR versions
included. (Freeware)
WAIT - Wait a set time and return a DOS error level if ESC hit.
(Freeware)
DRBOB - A talk with a Elisa like psychiatrist - BBS DOOR. (Freeware)
NACONVERT - Converts a FIDONET.NA file into a displayable conference list.
(Freeware)
FIXPHONE - LoopBack CALLBACK.FON maintenance utility (PCBOARD only). PPS
source code and complied PPE included. (Freeware)
Who are Midnight Programmers?
-----------------------------
Right off the top, we are not a "_Midnight_Autoparts_" dealing in hot CPU's,
nor do we dabble in illegal software tampering, and piracy. We do this for
fun, for the challenge and to learn more about these machines that seem to
take up so much of our free time (yeah, sick puppies ain't we.)
The name has been stuck to a group of friends that have contributed to a
number of programming projects over the last couple of years, with code,
ideas, suggestions, testing, food, drink, books and moral support. I've
usually been the instigator and main coder, but not always. Some of us are
professionals in the field and some of us are hobbyists that have gotten out
of control (just ask Alan, he'll tell you I've been out of control for
years).
Why "Midnight Programmers" and not "Tea Time Programmers"? Well, if you've
ever done any programming or system maintenance you'll know what I mean.
It's usually late at night that things go wrong and require fixing, or you
lose track of time while putting in just one more feature and look up to
find that it's 2:30 am (and you have to be in for work at 8:00 am!)
Over the last little while with all the over the phone rescue missions,
I've strongly considered changing names to "Remote Control Consultants"
<GRIN>, but Midnight Programmers seems to have stuck, and describes this
loose group computer jockeys quite nicely, thank you very much.
Thanks for reading this far....
Mark Collis
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION APPLIES TO ALL MIDNIGHT PROGRAMMERS SOFTWARE
PROGRAMS:
DISTRIBUTION
You may make this file available for downloading from your BBS or you may
upload it to any BBS of your choice, provided that you do not make any
changes to the contents of the archive (ZIP file).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO REGISTER, PLEASE FIND ENCLOSED IN THIS ARCHIVE THE FILE REGISTER.DOC.
READ AND FILL IT OUT, SEND IT TO THE ADDRESS IN THE REGISTER.DOC WITH
PROPER REGISTRATION MONEY AND YOUR REGISTRATION WILL BE PROMPTLY SENT TO
YOU ACCORDING TO THE METHOD CHECKED ON THE REGISTRATION FORM.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Licensing Agreement
===================
You are hereby granted a license to use, share, copy, and distribute the
accompanying program and its documentation, provided that this notice, and
the copyright information are not removed and/or altered in any way or form.
No fee or consideration is to be charged for the distribution. The
accompanying program is provided on an AS-IS basis without warranty of any
kind expressed or implied. The entire risk as to quality and performance of
the accompanying program rests solely with the user. In no event will the
author be liable for any damages, consequential or inconsequential.
By loading and running the accompanying program you acknowledge you have
read and understand this agreement and agree to be bound by its terms and
conditions.
The registered version of this program may only be run on the BBS it is
registered to. The sysop may run as many copies on that BBS as s/he would
like. Keys are not to be given out to others.
LEGALITIES
THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" WITHOUT
WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL ANYONE INVOLVED WITH THE CREATION AND PRODUCTION OF THIS
PRODUCT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING
OUT OF ANY USE THEREOF OR BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY. ONCE REGISTERED, ANY
DISTRIBUTION OF THE REGISTRATION KEY WILL INVALIDATE YOUR KEY IN ALL FUTURE
VERSIONS OF THIS PROGRAM AND NO PRODUCT SUPPORT WILL BE GIVEN. DISTRIBUTING
A REGISTERED KEY CODE WILL ALSO BRING ABOUT CRIMINAL CHARGES.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------